Parshas Vayeishev Mishmar with Rabbi Daniel Staum at the Scheiner's Shul

so thank you for giving me the opportunity again um and a big thank you as always to Tor anytime for recording thank you so I figured I would talk about a shocking topic that you wouldn't dream of that was so corny I want to talk about dreams um Thea that I am uh that I'm privileged to be re and so this one Shear every day that goes to IDT and the rebi gives Shear there in ID D so today on the way in I don't know I didn't notice it the last time that we went but I guess because of the topic I saw on the wall in IDT there's a quote from President Reagan Ronald Reagan which says America is too great for small dreams America is too great for small dreams so I asked my students what do you make of that is that a is that a Tora what does the Torah say about that is a too great for small dreams and they said the first thing they said is what I my first instinct was which was when it comes to Torah when it comes to there's no such thing you have to have in fact you have to have small dreams sometimes you can't always have two Big Dreams you have to have dreams of small things to get you to the big things you start dreaming of finishing babab basro you probably won't finish it's too big but if you start dreaming of one do a day maybe then maybe you'll you'll be to finish but then I I thought about it again I told them you know I don't think President Reagan was talking about on individual level as individuals yes we have to have small dreams but President Reagan I think was talking about America as a whole America is too great for small dreams America as a country shouldn't we shouldn't smell sell ourselves short as a country I don't know I can't ask President Reagan what he meant but that's I think what he might have been talking about but for sure it's true for us as a people for CLA Israel that the Jewish people are too great for small dreams that we should not sell ourselves short know we say we say every shabas few times on shabas when will return the captives of we will be like dreamers and in fact in our time there are so many things that have happened that we take totally for granted that for generations and generations of our ancestors it was a pipe dream to go to to go to go at at at the co at harabas to go to go to to wandering around Y and pick yourself up breakfast like this it would be like So Glorious and and that how beautiful it is now 100% so he was asked recently on a podcast they have all these interesting questions that they asked so they asked him if you could live in one era in one generation which eror would you choose and he said I have seen some incredible things in my lifetime you you know he's Kar past 90 and he lived through the end of the very end he was in Chicago but lived through the end of the Holocaust and seeing the you know formation of Israel and then 67 no he was in Chicago but his relatives his father he said he was remembers the day that his father found out that his entire family was killed out oh wow imagine but uh to live through the Revival of Torah in in in throughout the world especially in America and Israel was things that are just were dream things that a person couldn't you know and kol is too big for small dreams we're too great for small dreams you know even now and it comes with a price tag and the price tag has been horrendous and the price tag has been our hearts are broken the collective heart of clol is so broken and there's so much SAR and there's so many families that are ripped apart in the last 15 months but you tell someone 16 months ago you know someone we be talking about like what's going to be Iran is so strong and and and we're surrounded by Kamas andah and Assad and the htis they're all gone and and Iran it keeps weakening we have a lot to D for we don't know what it's going to be but just even what's happening said I'm perfectly satisfied with the generation with the life with the era that I live in and he always quotes the when a person goes through a miracle you don't recognize the the Miracles you tell somebody else you know it's a you know in the later time you tell them that you live through it in amazing times so CL lives by dreams and of course these paros m GES and earlier also with was a lot about dreams the par begins told us y the generations of yob is y who was 17 years old and the PK says very strangely he was a n he was a youth Z with the children of and zpa and the Torah goes on what does that mean he was a Nar 17 years old but why is he a Nar is usually seen as a portive term it's you find it all the time correct also we find it by and going up going up by by but it seems over here the way the Torah is saying it and the wayal seemed to be at least at first glance it seems to be looking down that there's something you are very careful when we talk about y but we look we we piggy back off and it seemingly is there's something a pagam of some sort and subtlety in Yim he says that earlier last week's when it talks about also talks about his son he said he's a Nar he's a young man he's a Nar he's old enough to to do a dastardly Act of what he did so you know why is he called a try to downplay soab says because he didn't have the patience was filled with a desire filled with lust and he take care of it now and no patience to wait therefore he did a terrible thing to Dina and he said that's the say being a Nar means somebody who doesn't have sufficient patience what's that acts impulsively acts impulsively correct not mature there's there's there's a certain yeah that's that's maturity a big part of maturity that's true big part of maturity is having the patience to wait for things to happen everything in its time in fact that's the BR that we give a lot of times give that uh when when when when someone's expecting and that's a process takes time you can't rush it your understood and correctly so that his dreams were and that's why he felt that he had he had he had to tell them over because there were prophecies but there was something lacking thear the dreams will happen in their time not yet not yet and Y A little bit lacked that patience says and that's what it means he was too two ahead of the game I guess wait to do the dream not should waited to do the dreams he himself should have known that the dreams it's not the time yet he he shouldn't have said it I don't know I don't know I don't know that's means I that he shouldn't have said anything I'm not sure but but definitely for ysf himself to have known maybe he shouldn't have said anything maybe that's what it means I'm not sure not sure but definitely for ysf to have to have to have had the patience to realize it will happen in it in its time he the thing you can't how the whole story wouldn't have happened if he was say got sold no everything would right everything we see that from the story everything would happen it would have happened just would have happened a different way thear I just learned the gar in it says that it doesn't happen till you say it it doesn't take effect well the dreams well the dreams already happened I don't know I don't know how to put all this together I'm just saying says um but I was thinking that maybe that's part of the idea that he screams at him that when you scream at someone it's to it's to give them like a little bit of a jolt that they should the kuska has a fascinating ver he says that Rashi says that said let there be a firmament and since then it immediately it Formed immediately it ConEd somewhat the sky and it hasn't moved in 6,000 years or whatever how many years it hasn't moved because of that one cry one call of Hashem and the cut says that's what it means that we bench each other that we bench ourselves that we should have we should have the same year that the sh had from one time said and since then it hasn't moved so we should also when R tells us something that we have to do that we should we should hold hold that as well so maybe that's a little bit why yob according toab was saying it makes sense that yov you know rebuked him or or or shouted at him at some level was a little bit to to to counter this N I saw a very fascinating question a very good point in next week's m in when yoseph is is interpreting the dreams of par so so parro shares both of his dreams and and tells him why did he repeat the dreams twice because it's correct from you should realize it's going to start right away it's you had the dream twice in two different ways it's happening right away so why Why by ysep wasn't the same thing why didn't why didn't why shouldn't ysf come to the conclusion that it was going to take place right away had the dreams he had two dreams two different dreams two different dreams back to back right and and the bundles so also so why especially according to what we just said from why why are we Ming him so there's a saer I think it's I saw a quoted in his name he says beautiful he says if you have a a tailor and a contractor and you send them both off and the tailor comes back three days later it's all done and the contractor you're waiting away weeks and months what's going on you don't want a house that's built in three days it's not going to last very long things take time he says so brilliantly he says y's dreams Mar last was going to hurry to do it the process is starting immediately it did like like someone here said a few minutes ago it did start right away but you want to know about the ultimate fulfillment of the dreams that you reach malus that's a process slow it takes time it will happen but but it takes time this is like a different but it did start right away that was the dreams the double dreams the whole ver was that it's going to start right away it did start for ysf right away it started immediately immediately with him being sold down and again what would have happened that they not it would have happened in other ways somehow it would have happened so ysf needed the the the molding of his leadership until he was ready for that leadership but I want to share with you I saw very beautiful from has a totally opposite take on he says that the says it's a I believe I think it one Tas recently because CL is a n when I love him is a Nar is a Nar so R salant famously said that you know didn't say this part I'll get back to rant in a second but I want a great line it says you could be 10 years old and you could be 90 years young it depends on a person if a person is able to grow if a person is able to to to continue to to change themselves to continue to improve to see themselves as a work and training so no matter how old you are you're still young even if God forbid a person's body is failing him he's still growing so he's young whereas a person could be old and Ved out even a 15 years old and say I am who I am and life is as it is and it's never going to change and have no Spirit of life is they're young they're youthful can adapt can grow they're not we're not stagnant we're not a stagnant people always adapting in ourselves to to what's going on who says so that's why I love CL Israel so he says that's that's the Godless of Y he was able to grow he wasn't stuck even though so many things were about to happen to him in his life he was the he was the according to what says he was we but he was able to he was able he never was no matter what happened to him and so many difficult and terrible things happened to him he never gave up and he was able constantly able to grow with everything that happened the there's a safer not a very well-known safer by a very well-known author though and the safer is called Amar Naka Amar Naka was written by the ra really famous ra and he says a fascinating thing he says really there were three dreams Yosef had another dream in fact a dream that was before all the other ones because the PK says it's it's it's Rashi quotes Rashi quotes it's in where the says that y the brothers were afraid and they they they after yov died they were afraid that ysf was going to take revenge so the PK says that ysf comforted them so the Mill says I think Rashi quotes it over there in but it's Mill that he Ys said to them if 10 Flames couldn't extinguish One Flame then one flame can't extinguish 10 you don't have to worry that was what he told him that's that's the G says the banura in his Parish Tor fascinating he says that was actually the first dream that ysep had ysf had a dream that 10 Flames were trying to put out one flame it's not in the it's not in the and he says why is this not in the because this displayed only displayed the hatred of or the the S the K of the brothers to Ys but it doesn't talk about anything about his Mal so therefore it's not it's not it's not in the that's what he says and of course it's a beautiful REM to was always the week before what's that how does he know this line about the 10 candles is a gar how does Thea know that this was his dream I don't know oh doesn't say that it was his dream doesn't say was his dream no thear just says that this is what this is what yose told them if 10 Flames couldn't put out one then one can't put out 10A says that this was his dream where he gets it from I don't know I don't know but you can rely on the V I don't know but we know that in life it's it's very important we need to have we need to have dreams and a person always needs to have dreams in order to keep himself going herself going um the problem is we live in a world where people want to get from a to c and they don't want to do B B is where all the work is a is the starting point C is the goal you know you want to get from but you don't want to do the 174 BL in between you're not going to be able to get there there's a a magnificent medish it's an incredible medish it's talking about when Yuda was sent down from the Brothers a lot of difficult things going on in the par so the med says and it's an awesome Med were busy selling was busy yeah was busy with sack and and fasting he was also he was cast away from the brothers and Ru was busy with sack and fasting as we know because he felt it was his is correct I'm sorry refuses to be comforted and you just trying to find a wife and this is the kicker it's it's so eloquent to and was busy taking all the different parts and all the Brokenness and it was all Brokenness each one of them and he was weaving together this seeds of Messiah which would come from Yehuda from Yehuda and Tamar and from this this very difficult story there's a process dreams take time and we lack the patience for it and sometimes a lot of times it's the darkness that holds the key to the light says that of all the of all the different personalities you can call them that in in this all them in Yuda seems the least impressive but he's the one who's chosen for Mal and he says that Yehuda the greatness of Yehuda and the greatness of all of them really but Yehuda particularly in a certain way as I'll explain in a second he didn't give up he didn't give up on the dream Yehuda felt that he had ruined everything there is no greater Ura that a person has than when he feels he messed everything up that's when the Yar gets us Yar gets us when we feel I messed everything up I'm done I'm worthless Yar takes it and milks it for everything it's worth and Yuda felt he he ruined everything it was because of him that yob is now in mourning and ysf is not everything was just a disaster but instead of giving up which is what the easiest thing would have been you would have start it over there's an amazing V I don't know who says it it's but it's a a magnificent T that it says by when she was trying to get y she grabbed him by his clothing and she said lie with me and of being a traitor a traitor is a bade is a traitor she grabbed him by his traitoress she said to him you know your brothers are sitting and learning by you know and you are sitting and hling with a ases is you are a failure you are a loser she grabbed him by hisa and this is how the gets us he grabs Us by oura and says you're a failure you have nothing he left the with her I'm not I'm running away running away from the a that's a Godless the he said one line to minimize to constrict the then afterwards to grow maybe that's why they're both who's both it's for because of this 100% but he says that from Yehuda see was well I guess with but it was also was all foed upon him but Yehuda we know that his was taken away tell us but it looked like Yehuda messed everything up there's going to be times when we have uras he says that's not to allow the to get to the to get the better of us and not losing the dream even B the G but not losing the dream not giving not giving up on the dream and fulfillment of Dreams is a process there's a extraordinary person har ALS for years already um he was featured on The View on one of the big TV shows already a bunch of years ago he's already been bedridden he don't can move his eyes and he he writes a paral sheet I don't know if he still writes it I think so get it emailed it's amazing amazing he's still going but but in a certain way more amazing is his wife who you know is not the man she married and she cares for him and uh it's incredible Mrs Miriam har so I once heard I heard a record of a lecture that she gave and she said that many times in life you know obviously she had a husband who was tremendously vigorous and was a and was doing amazing things out in California and now he's bedridden can't can hardly do anything and his Spirit of life is also incredible but she said that you know in life a lot of times we have to give up on dreams when shows us that that's not meant to be to give up on the dream to let the dream die and to mourn over it to make room for new dreams it's very profound there times in life when the dreams that we had and they were beautiful dreams and were good dreams and sometimes we have to let them die so that we can make room for the new dreams for for for new dreams I often feel I often said that nasma for cl was an amazing moment saying nasma on our own lives I think in certain ways is the most difficult thing in the world that means where puts us sometimes in individual situation sometimes it's are the cards that we're dealt with it's very hard to say you put me here this is where you want me I'm going to do my best it's very hard it's very very difficult and a lot of times we have to allow dreams that we had and beautiful good dreams worthwhile dreams but for whatever reason doesn't want those dreams and we have to make room for new dreams because we always have to have dreams Dr tki has told a story about a woman named Norah um who was 42 years old and she became and she was pregnant she years could not have a child they adopted two children sure she had a husband who was alcoholic that was in recover recovery andm was doing was doing great and she told over the story he heard it from her at a one a meetings Dr trus used to go to um and uh he even though he was he always said he's not alcoholic he said he has an addiction to Torah but he goes because of the meetings he felt that there were a lot to gain anyway so she said over this story at one of the meetings and she said that 42 years old she became pregnant she said this was my child I was sure he was going to be a road scholar he was going to go you know straight to Harvard he was going to be I this is the greatest gift that God gave her she said I was so thankful to God he said and then he was finally born with Down Syndrome she said and I was crushed my husband and I were crushed and I was so angry I said God I accepted I accepted what you gave me I accepted I wouldn't have a child we adopted two children we built the life and then you made me pregnant wow amazing why'd you do it why'd you do it it was okay I didn't need a child why'd you give me this child and then she said I started to think to myself God you could do anything so God do a miracle you could do anything you could do anything in a second so God changed the child make the change God make the change she said I cried my husband and I sat by the crib and we cried and we cried and we prayed she said and then one night God made the miracle he made the change and he changed us and we learned and we were able to love that child the way he was and she said that I realized that if I'm able to love my child and my husband were able to love our child with all of his per imperfections then I know that God could love me too with all of my imperfections as well very powerful but the idea of that she had to to give up on a dream which is painful which is very very difficult in order to make room for for new dreams because our dreams help Define our trajectory in life what we dream about and what we dream what our dreams are for ourselves we hopefully follow our dreams if they're realistic dreams we know that is incredible dream dreams of the connection between Heaven and Earth which is the that's our purpose here the K says we're going to say for eight days soon the heavens are forem but the Earth he gave to people say says the ker the heavens are forem the Earth he gave to people to make it our job is to make earth himic to make it Heavenly through our MIT through to make it a place where the feels comfortable I saw once said over that we my mother has a magnet didn't say about my mother's magnet but I'll get back second I don't know if she still has the magnet she used to have a magnet it says I quote it all the time a house is made of brick and stone a home is made of Love Alone Oh beautiful line nice word so Rabbi salic said we say Bas KES we translate Bas KES is a house of gathering or a house of prayer Bas meis is a house of study that's not what it's meant to be it's not meant to be a house of gathering it's not it's meant to be a home it's meant to be a home of stuff study A Home of prayer a home where the feels comfortable that's what a home is a home is where everybody feels of Love Alone where a person feels comfortable that's the idea that's what it means to build a bias and that's what it is for us to make a to make a world where feels comfortable the bik we know the bik is is compared to the neck where do we see that in two weeks I'm sorry yeah where y cries On's it's always translated as shoulder but actually y cries y shoulders but it's actually not shoulders sa is his neck why is it translated because doesn't make so much sense he cries on his necks you only have one neck the neck they're near each other but it's really the neck and it's and and what I'm about to say you'll see why yose bam cried on the yes because because what were they crying over bamin cried over the Mish which was in and Y cried over the two why what does have to do with the with the neck because the neck is the connection between our heads our minds our and the rest of our bodies and that is what the bik and the Mish that's what it was that's what it represented the connection between Heaven and Earth that's the dream of yob and that's where yob dreamed it he dreamed it on the M of of harabas he dreamed it on that place and shabas KES is also shabas is the ultimate balance between the two worlds where everything I think says it the isas the CH the you know tonight it's enjoyable on chabas it's holy because it's it's part of shabas even the becomes KES on through shabas and in fact the M that we talk a lot about on shabas iser we mentioned mention is a perfect balance right fer the fer is the balance is the perfect balance and that's what shabas is it's the perfect balance between the later on in has another dream that people miss it because says it in passing but he says and I Hadi and he saw different sheep speckled and all this so they say I don't know if they say it in just but there's a powerful point they say yobu said at the beginning of the par I was dreaming about Hashem he said now I'm dreaming about sheep it's time to leave it's time that real part it's time to leave yeah they say it's time to leave L one's house you see where my dreams have gone you know we can imagine the Yu's dreams were but the message is for us that uh you know we stop dreaming about about the we stop dreaming about connecting the two worlds so then we get into trouble one of the other things that I think is very important when it comes to dream is how do we relate to other people's dreams I once a beautiful observation I forgot who said it a few people that I think I might have been but I don't know who it was so I I feel bad I can't say y asks at the beginning of the par Y is busy telling everybody listen to oh sorry let me go back one second at the beginning of par y is at the top of the world by the end of the par he's languishing in jail bottom of the world mik is the opposite par begins ysf is is is on the bottom by the end of mikat see the middle of mikat already he's already at the top he's the vice Roy so who said such a beautiful thought he said in y is saying listen to My Dreams listen to My Dreams listen to My Dreams listen to what what I what my hopes are my aspirations my dreams goes from here all the way down by the end of the beginning of mik Y is saying tell me about your dreams tell me what are your aspirations what are your hopes by the end of is at the top of the world mayor Shapiro the founder ofi and many other great things one time on one of his travels he came to the town of shatz and he met rakov was the chu of Reb Chu of rebba was the son-in-law of the shat rebba and they were talking he came to greet the May shapir great may shapir may shapir said them I have an interesting question to ask you cuz he said he was from he the sh Reb's son-in-law he says is is your rabbits in here Mar Shapiro asked very interesting he said actually she is he said can I speak to her very fascinating so she came of course they they sat them down and he he said to her you you remember me from oh yeah of course I remember you were little kids they were little kids together and he said I want to ask you a question do you remember that I told you about a dream of mine that everybody in CLA star was going to learn one page of gimar together and she said yeah you remember that you you laughed and everybody laughed at me and made fun of me she said yes he said I just want to tell you never ever laugh at the dreams of a child that was the messenger of M Shapiro not the I'm sure but uh it's this powerful point and I saw that was the D of so people were saying can't be the story's not true he said the story's true I heard it from my mother chak of rabbit wow Jewish survival our survival I'm coming to my conclusion the Jewish survival is a dream our being here is a dream CL is being here said in the 1700s that the greatest Miracle of all greater than I swear in the name of greater than everything else is that is here and he said this in the in in the in the in the late 1700s you know the PK says that when ysf was coming so they said uh you know let's throw him in the pit tell us tells us that Bas said V we will see you're going to you're going to throw him in the pit and destroy him we'll see what the and that is that is that is the history of the Jewish people our enemies say let's throw them in the pit with snakes and scorpions and the Bas comes out and says V we'll see we'll see my we'll see what the dreams are and of course one of the biggest questions is what do you do with your dreams because the next week's par the says has his dreamus I think I think it's a kutar also who says this he went to back to sleep and he had another dream that's that was that was power what does it say woke up and he said I didn't know if I knew I would never have slept Yak has a dream he has he wakes up and immediately he's he Springs to action par has a dream he goes back to sleep so that's the question always with our dreams most people that is yeah go back to sleep that's the question what do we do are we like yov or we more like but the makim y of Kana is because of those who went out to defend a dream there a dream and it was a dream that was uh I don't think their dream was that they would survive their dream was that we're going to the dream of kiso it's to continue the ladder and the Mal going up and down we're going to fight for it to the death the rebuilding of Torah in America the survival in Earth Israel and becoming a m Torah probably the greatest mum Torah in the world maintaining our values and goals when a baron C started in Lakewood when when expanded the mirror despite his illness and the the classic classic story of the punov the punov who lost most of his family and was in arel and he started talking about how he was going to build this and he was going to build that he was going to build the Yeshiva and someone said to him Rabbi you're dreaming and he said I am dreaming but I'm not sleeping classic classic words and the ponich built an Empire of Torah it's incredible what he did he was tireless never never stopped you know RAB wine Liv me well my re so he he he he had he was R Miami Beach and he said many many is used to come to Miami still do come to Miami Beach during the winter so he had a very close connection with many G and one of one of them was the punov he said the punov told him one of the ideas of no matter how old a person is always be involved in be involved in in in projects for you know quot this way they're not going to be so quick to take you till his dying day he was involved in so many things many many years still writing books and still lecturing and everything else let me conclude with one last awesome thought also from RAB salich says in not when was on his way up to the so he says um he says toz and stay here with the donkey and we will go until y will bow and will come down to you says here in lies the difference in the of a Jew and of the rest of the world the rest of the world lives in a world of Po whatever I see whatever you see around you that's that's the world you have to live in reality which makes sense that's natural law a doesn't live in the natural reality only he has to he has to do that too but he lives with a vision Beyond a vision of Co they'll be Beyond right it's famous from tell go outside count the Stars if you can it's almost like he tells him go outside and count them cuz you can't what is that tells him to go outside and do something you can't do says he told him go outside and count the Stars you can't do it anyway because that's what your children will be they'll be the impossible and somebody here's going to start singing shweky songs we are a miracle but we are it's true and that of course is the Y ofu they camped at Co they camped Yonder it was a dream it was something that could not happen they could not win oil doesn't burn for eight days uh smaller armies minus I guess the wars in Israel in the last uh last 7080 years but small armies don't overcome massive armies that are much bigger than they are it doesn't happen it only happens if you have a a Viewpoint of Co if you have a dream that you are willing to die for that you're willing to fight for help us all that we should have dreams dreams of and we should be to have the patience for the process to go on to always have new dreams never stop having dreams and uh to be able to fulfill our dreams thank you very much